On its customer Web site, the Union Pacific Railroad characterizes flat cars as available "in a variety of lengths, tonnage and capacities for specialized commodities that are not subject to damage from the elements." Attributes are listed as "easier to load and unload freight," "can drive machinery directly on to the car," and nailable wood or steel floors that allow "nail blocking and bracing to the floor for a damage-free, secure shipment." For shipping large or bulky items, from machinery to vehicles, the flat car has been the solution since the dawn of railroading.
This RailKing model is a descendant of the airplane flat cars that graced many a train set in the late 1950s. The airplane itself is based on the Beechcraft Bonanza, a radical private plane when it was introduced in 1947, with a low-wing design and metal fuselage based on WWII fighters. Still being made today, the Bonanza holds the honor of being in continuous production longer than any other plane in history. The model, however, borrows one WWII innovation that the real Bonanza did not: foldable wings like a carrier-based fighter. If visitors to your layout ask why a perfectly good airplane is traveling by rail, simply tell them the plane isn't airworthy - because it's a new airframe on its way to a finishing plant, or a historic Beechcraft on its way to restoration. Every freight car has a story.
High quality, traditionally sized RailKing Freight Cars provide detailed bodies and colorful paint schemes for the O Gauge railroader. MTH makes an enormous variety of RailKing Freight Cars, including many different car types and roadnames. No matter what era or part of the country you are modeling, RailKing is sure to have something for you.
